


The Sharp Knife of a Short Life

by JenniferO



Category: Until Dawn (Video Game)
Genre: F/M, also ashley has two cats named Link and Zelda because the nerd is strong, expect mistakes, i apologize profusely for this, i love how i write about selfie tags and animal crossing and then i write t h i s
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-18
Updated: 2016-01-18
Packaged: 2018-05-14 18:36:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,797
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5753902
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JenniferO/pseuds/JenniferO
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Chris and Sam are asked to help clear out Ashley's room after she is killed on the mountain. I do not own any of the music that is mentioned in this story.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Sharp Knife of a Short Life

**Author's Note:**

> Something happened during an edit of this where the second half of the fic was deleted. so if there are any mistakes, that's why. but i did what could we're ok jfc

Chris and Sam stepped into Ashley’s bedroom, memories of all the times they had been in here before flashing back and hitting them like a truck. Chris froze for a moment, not taking his hand off the doorknob. He fought the urge to break down into tears right there, but he swallowed and blinked them back.

The room was as Ash left it. The bed was made, the floor had been vacuumed, and the curtains were pulled back, letting what was last of the late-afternoon light in. It still smelled like her.

“Woah…” Sam murmured from behind him, struggling to keep from choking up too.

“I know.” Chris whispered. “This is… this is weird…” He stepped in further and looked around before setting a cardboard box down on the floor.

“Jesus, that’s a lot of books.” Sam sighed, practically staring at the heavily cluttered bookcase in trepidation and dropping her purse on the carpet. They were gonna be here a while.

Ashley’s walls were warm and welcoming, painted a pale shade of green. Posters of her favorite movies and bands were pinned up, several quotes written on small, framed canvases were scattered around, a picture of New Zealand hung above her bed, and there were still christmas lights hung over a mirror. Neither Chris nor Sam wanted to take any of it down.

Chris looked over at the desk apprehensively. There was a lot of stuff, most of which she hadn’t had a chance to clear away.

There were incense ashes left over, a coffee mug she hadn’t brought downstairs, burnt out candles, even week-old post-it notes she had written to herself lay around, forgotten.

Chris picked up one at random and read the small, needlessly neat handwriting scrawled across the paper, _make an aesthetic photoset about yourself. include books, tea and kittens. p.s. you're running out of post-it notes._

Chris chuckled. She must have gotten that idea in the middle of the night, that often happened to her. He found himself wondering what else would have been in that post.

He gathered up all of the other notes and dropped them in the box, not wanting to throw them out.

More stuff on Ash’s desk included a handmade journal, a jewelry-holder that only consisted of rings, a camera, a small lamp, a jar filled with expensive looking pens, and a stack of 3DS games. He carefully moved all of it into the box, hardly knowing he was doing it.

Sam looked over at him. She knew how hard this must be for him. Nobody was as close to Ash as Chris had been. They spent so much time together it broke her heart. So many study sessions in the library, video game competitions, little conversations that would probably haunt him forever. And then one weekend, one night, one decision and all of that was gone.

Sam and Chris had been over Mike’s house when they got a phone call from the Blackwood County Rangers saying that three bodies had been found in the mines. Mike put it on speaker while the officer said they had been identified. When he read out the names Matthew, Joshua and Ashley, Chris fell to his knees and started sobbing uncontrollably. Sam pulled him onto the couch and wrapped her arms around him while he cried into her shoulder, mumbling “Not both of them. Not both of them. Not both of them.”

Mike leaned up against the wall feeling loathsome of himself while he took deep breaths to stop from breaking down, but not being able to keep the tears from streaming down his face. He managed to say “Thank you. If you hear anything else l-let us know.” into the receiver before hanging up and joining Sam and Chris on the couch.

Sam was trying to keep herself together while she held Chris. She rocked him back and forth and whispered, “Deep breaths, deep breaths.”

She wasn’t as close with Ash or Matt as she was Josh, but she had cared about them all. She could only imagine how it was for Chris. Who had just lost both of his best friends in the whole world in a matter of seconds.

She reached over to Mike’s hand and squeezed it, gritting her teeth to keep herself from losing it too.

She sniffed quietly and blinked back her tears, turning back to the books she was moving into the box.

There was a small thud from behind them as the door was nudged open, and one of Ashley’s cats came in. She had two, Link and Zelda. Both about a year old now, both tabby, but Link had more white fur on him.

It was Link who had come in, Sam didn’t know which one was which but Chris did - Link wasn’t the one always trying to scratch his eyes out.

Link leapt onto the bed, mewling at them. Sam moved over and scratched his chin while he purred happily. Sam tried to push away the thought that he probably came in looking for Ashley.

Chris turned back to the the desk and opened the first drawer. More notebooks, journals and stationery. It took everything in Chris not to pick up one at random and read her internal thoughts, but he resisted the urge and put them all in the box before moving onto the next drawer.

Sam had done about half of the bookshelf, Ashley’s favorite pastime now in a cardboard box instead of on the shelves. But she had no doubt that there were more scattered all over the place. Ash read so much, it was endearing how she could get attached to the characters and places and plots that she was imagining with whatever the author offered.

“It’s just words on a page, but there are whole universes in the words.” She had told the group once. They responded by muttering “nerd” under their breath.

Her favorite genres were fantasy and sci-fi. Of course she would be branded as a nerd, but she was more than happy to take that label.

About fifteen minutes passed, and they had cleared out the bookshelf and the desk. The room already looked smaller. The sun had set in that time and they switched the light on.

Sam fetched another box and started filling it with Ashley’s clothes. It didn’t take a genius to figure out that she had a large collection of band-tees, scarves, and of course - beanies.

“So. Many. Hats.” Sam muttered exasperatedly, earning a chuckle from Chris. Neither had either of them ever seen Ash without something on her head. It was like a trademark.

Chris had moved over to one of the bedside tables. On it was a lamp, journal (surprise surprise) and her blue 3DS, and inside were more post-it notes, pens, a pair of gloves, and spare scented candles.

Sam was done with the closet and went to the stack of books on the other bedside table. She dragged the old box over and put them in, and then opened the drawer. This is where her music lived. A couple of album cases, most of them were by cover artists. But there were a few by Parachute, Fall Out Boy, and the Civil Wars. Sam knew she listened to most of her music on her iPod, which was sitting on top.

“Hey look,” She reached inside and pulled out the orange device and switched it on. “Her iPod. I don’t know what she listened to.”

Chris stood up straight and turned to her. “Her music taste was kind of all over the place.”

Sam smiled, “Do you want to take a break? Listen to some stuff?” The battery was still 100% and she was curious. She found a set of pink earbuds in the drawer as well.

It didn’t sound like a bad idea. “Sure.” They moved over to the foot of the bed and sat down and put one earbud in their ears.

They looked through her library, playing a couple songs and silently reminiscing. Sam was picking them until she decided to let an acoustic playlist of songs play on shuffle. A couple romantic sad songs by Vance Joy, Ed Sheeran, City & Colour and Foxes got Chris a little choked up but he managed to keep his cool.

_If I die young, bury me in satin, lay me down-_

Sam quickly paused the song. She had heard this song before and she knew it wouldn’t be good for either of them to hear right now. She looked at Chris cautiously.

Chris swallowed, reluctant for a moment, but reached over and pressed play.

They listened to the lyrics of the song in silence, neither of them really listened to country music, but apparently Ashley had.

_I've never known the loving of a man_

_But it sure felt nice when he was holding my hand,_

_There's a boy here in town, says he'll love me forever,_

_Who would have thought forever could be severed by_

_the sharp knife of a short life,_

_Well, I've had just enough time…_

The words hit home and Chris put his head in his hands, but he didn’t say that he wanted the song to stop. So Sam put her arm around him and let the sound of a violin wash over them both, tears pricking her eyes.

_A penny for my thoughts, oh no, I'll sell them for a dollar,_

_They're worth so much more after I'm a goner_

_And maybe then you'll hear the words I’ve been singing,_

_Funny when you're dead how people start listening…_

Sam pulled Chris into a hug. She knew they were both crying.

The song looped through the chorus one last time and she held Chris tighter when it ended. She reached down and paused it before the next song could play.

“Do you want to stop now?” She asked softly, pulling away and taking the earbud out of her ear.

Chris sniffed and nodded, reaching up and taking off his glasses quickly to rub his eyes. Sam picked up her purse she had left on the floor and pulled out a pack of tissues she then passed to him.

They wiped their eyes and blew their noses for a while but Chris’s breathing was still shaky.

“I...I want her to come back, Sam…” He croaked.

Sam sniffed and hugged him again. “I know you do.” She whispered. “I do too… You’re not alone. I’m here for you, I promise.”

There were still tears on his face and he was still trembling, but he knew that Sam wasn’t lying to him. She never broke promises, and he was so grateful that she survived.

“T-thank you.” He mumbled.

She moved her hand around in circles on his back.

“Deep breaths, Chris.”

_Deep breaths._

**Author's Note:**

> yeah  
> The other songs I mentioned were Georgia by Vance Joy, Photograph by Ed Sheeran, We Found Each Other in the Dark by City & Colour and Clarity by Foxes. They all remind me of Chris and Ashley.  
> I think the end of this is a little "meh" but I think the rest of it's pretty good.  
> I really love what i think Ash's room would be like. My girl's a bit of a hipster.  
> My tumblr is jennifero77


End file.
